OPALESQUE ISLAMIC FINANCE INTELLIGENCE
ISSUE 12
03 October, 2010
Book Review
îð
Islamic Banking and Finance:
What It Is and What It Could Be
By Mohammed Amin
Mohammed Amin is an Islamic finance specialist, with a particular
interest in how Islamic finance is treated in Western tax and regulatory
systems. He is a member of the HM Treasury Islamic Finance Experts
Group, established by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury to advise
the Government on Islamic Finance strategy, and is the only practicing
accountant on that group. Until he retired at the end of 2009 Amin led
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Islamic Finance practice in the UK as well as being
a member of PwC’s four-person Global Islamic Finance Leadership Team.
He shares his thoughts on Muslim community issues and Islamic finance
topics on his website (see reference link).
“Islamic Banking and Finance: What It Is and What It Could Be” was published in March
of this year by 1st Ethical Charitable Trust, and is an impressively well presented book,
hardbound, printed on high quality paper and 500 pages long including the appendices and
index. Including the editor, Tarek El Diwany, there are 12 contributors including experts in
Shariah, lawyers and academics. However, only one of the authors, Shaharuddin Zainuddin,
is a practicing banker.
Unlike many multi-author publications, with two exceptions (pieces expressly appearing
over the names of the editor and of Nejatullah Siddiqui), specific parts of the text are
not attributed to named authors, a process that clearly attaches the author’s reputation
to the text that he writes. However, page xxiv sets out in broad terms who was the main
contributor of each section.
The back cover sets out the book’s objectives and structure:
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OPALESQUE ISLAMIC FINANCE INTELLIGENCE
Book Review
ISSUE 12
03 October, 2010
îï
This is a very ambitious set of objectives.
Despite the length, and the apparent dryness of the subject, I found the book very easy to read and enjoyed reading it. It is well laid out,
with excellent typography and a high quality of proofreading. It is also very well referenced with an extensive bibliography and many
footnotes. The book is highly structured, with an outline that goes five levels deep.
Unfortunately the use of multiple writers has resulted in some of the treatment becoming very “bitty.” For example the use of secular or
Shariah law is covered in several different places, instead of being brought together in one. This significantly detracts from the quality of
the book.
Overall, despite all of the effort that has been put into it, I believe that the book failed to achieve its objectives. In my opinion the main
reasons are:
1. The objectives were too ambitious for a book that is only 500 pages long.
2. The writers have not remained focused on the needs of the target readers.
3. The fragmented coverage of key issues indicates that the editor has not maintained sufficient editorial control over his 11 co-authors.
4. The book, despite its claim in the above quote, is not properly balanced. There are many arguments against current Islamic banking
practices, but few in favour of them. The editor is well known for his criticisms of current Islamic banking and I believe this is the reason
for the absence of balance.
The editor is of course entitled to hold views as revolutionary as he wishes. Unfortunately, these have gotten in the way of providing
students with an objective textbook on what Islamic finance is and how it operates, which I regard as a necessary precondition before
going on to promote the manner in which the editor would like it to change.
Your feedback and comments are very important to us, please feel free to contact the author via email.
Copyright 2010 © Opalesque Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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